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VICTORIA, British Columbia – May 29, 2018 – Caorda Web Solutions, a local design, development and digital marketing agency, hit a milestone of 15 years in business in April.

Caorda was incorporated on April 9th, 2003 by the trio of Paul Johnston, Lance Hesketh and Jannik Plaetner, and in classic start-up fashion the business started and operated from the basement of Paul’s house. The founders’ vision was to provide a one-stop-shop for web design, web development, custom application development, and Canadian business level hosting services. As the web matured, businesses of all sizes were taking advantage of the marketing and business opportunities it provided, and from the beginning, Caorda specialized in providing end-to-end services as a full solution provider, and in delivering exceptional customer service and support.

Back in 2003, Caorda created its very own software-as-a-service Content Management System (Caorda Content) to allow their clients to easily manage content on websites. Fast forward 15 years and Caorda is still rocking website design and development across multiple content management systems, while having added a dedicated support team, an expanded array of Canadian-based hosting solutions from the Caorda Data Centre, a creative design team, and video production and digital marketing services.

“Our strength is rooted in the great diversity of expertise, experience, and personalities found in our team, combined with a healthy respect and acceptance of each other,” says Paul Johnston, President. “This allows us to effectively collaborate from multiple perspectives toward a singular purpose, be it delivering great marketing results for a client project, building exciting software applications or delivering outstanding customer service each and every day.”

Caorda has experienced considerable growth over the past two years, notably since the summer of 2016 when the company relocated to an open concept office space on the 4th floor of the Apex Building. With increased collaboration on projects and occasional office shenanigans, the move has been phenomenal for employee work satisfaction. The talented team of 19 can easily share ideas and perspectives, all for the benefit of Caorda’s clients. “It's great to work in an environment with like-minded individuals who are so passionate about creating solid marketing and technology solutions for our clients,” says Julie Melano, Graphic Designer. “We take real pride in our work, and I think that's a reflection of how well we are treated as employees. I'm proud to be a member of the Caorda team and wouldn’t want to work anywhere else.”

All staff are excited for the official 15-year anniversary celebration at Caorda’s office on Friday, June 1, from 2:00-6:00 PM, at 3795 Carey Road Suite 401. Current clients, prospective clients, media, friends, and family are invited to celebrate Caorda’s accomplishments over the past 15 years, as well as to enjoy catered food from Ferris’ Oyster Bar, live music by Finch & Fiddler and plenty of refreshments.

Performance marketing agency PlusROI Online Marketing Inc has been selected as part of an elite group of Priority Agencies in Canada as part of Google's improved partnership model. As a result, PlusROI now works directly with a full Agency Team at Google who provide personalized help with strategic planning, onboarding, training, strategic insights and support for optimizing Adwords clients' account efficiency.

Google also gives PlusROI personalized assistance with advanced Analytics and measurement tools, as well as troubleshooting support for Google Analytics and all features of Google Adwords. This helps PlusROI’s clients achieve better results with valuable advertising budgets.

"It's a real honour to have been selected as one of a handful of elite Canadian companies in Google’s new Priority Agency program,” says PlusROI President and founder Rob Cooper. “This builds on the existing Google Partner Program and offers some very significant value to our agency and our clients.”

PlusROI’s approach to online advertising is to focus on results and limit client risk. This powerful new program can definitely help us provide our clients with a competitive advantage," says Cooper.

No strangers to Adwords, PlusROI's current and past clients managed through their Google Client Centre have generated almost 7 million paid advertising clicks, over 100,000 "conversions" (purchases, leads, signups, etc) and over CDN $4 million in advertising spend.

PlusROI President and founder Rob Cooper has been managing Adwords teams since his introduction to Adwords in the highly competitive downloadable software industry in 2005. Managing Partner Rian Bowden began his Adwords career in Shanghai in 2006, selling English language training programs internationally through Adwords and SEO.

PlusROI Online Marketing was even the recipient of the 2014 VIATeC Technology Awards Online Strategy of the Year Award for a successful highly targeted national advertising effort.

Clients such as Company Capital, which provides working capital financing to small businesses across Canada, also have great things to say about PlusROI's Adwords services.

"We teamed up with PlusROI to help us grow our on-line leads by 50%," says Company Capital VP of Marketing Bruce Marshall. "Among other things, PlusROI completely re-built our website and re-vamped and expanded our Adwords campaigns. The results have been exceptional – in just 6 months our website visits are up 150% and our on-line leads are up 170%. The most important results are we have increased our new customer counts by 125% over the same period last year."

PlusROI also helps out on the non-profit front, offering advice and helping non-profit organizations like The Canadian Animal Assistance Team, Big Brothers and Sisters of Greater Victoria and the Victoria International Cycling Festival set up and run Adwords campaigns through the very generous Google Grant program.

Caorda Web Solutions, a local design, development and digital marketing agency, has relocated.see more

VICTORIA, British Columbia – September 27, 2016 – Caorda Web Solutions, a local design, development and digital marketing agency, has relocated to a new modern office just a few blocks from its previous location.

“After 8 years, we felt it was time for a change” says Paul Johnston, President. “The new space has been a big hit with staff and clients alike. It’s bright and welcoming, with a modern feel that provides a hybrid work environment to balance the benefits of both an open work concept and private breakout rooms. The gym and squash court are already seeing action for stress relief and to get the creative juices flowing! We look forward to inviting more clients in to check out the new digs.”

The new space encourages collaboration thanks to its open concept floorplan and offers panoramic views of beautiful Victoria to boot! Caorda’s new office means improved client interaction, new amenities for employees, and room for growth. The company is now even better equipped to offer top notch web design, app development, digital marketing and hosting services.

All staff are excited for Caorda’s Open House, taking place on Wednesday, September 28, from 3:00-7:00 PM, at 3795 Carey Road Suite 401. The event will give the public a chance to meet the people behind Caorda, check out the new office, and enjoy some food, live music and refreshments.

About Caorda Web Solutions

Headquartered in Victoria, British Columbia since 2003, Caorda is a talented digital agency providing a range of services including website design, application and database development, hosting solutions, digital marketing, SEO and video production. Caorda helps organizations of all sizes achieve their internet goals by providing end-to-end services utilizing a variety of content management systems and internet marketing tools. Caorda provides solutions for a wide variety of industries and clients, including the Galaxy Motors, Harbord Insurance, Ocean River Sports, Central 1 Credit Union and the BC Lions Society. For further details, please visit us at: www.caorda.com

Learn from some of the industry's leading marketing professionals at SEM Summit on October 4, 2016.see more

Looking to boost traffic to your website and benefit more from the traffic you already have?

Learn from some of the industry's leading marketing professionals at SEM Summit on October 4, 2016 at Fort Tectoria in downtown Victoria. Those new to SEM can start their day with “An Intro to SEO, SEM & Internet Marketing” to get up to speed, followed by two in-depth SEO sessions on “How to Rise to the Top in Local Search” and “Increase Conversions and Rankings with User Experience”.

After enjoying a sponsored lunch break and networking, we'll spend the afternoon learning Online Advertising in two sessions covering the “Top Tips for Getting the Most from your AdWords Account” as well as a session that asks “Are You Ready for Online Advertising?” built to help you get started right and get the most out of your website traffic.

End your day of learning with a cocktail reception at a local pub and get a chance to chat more with your fellow attendees as well as the speakers.

Tickets may be purchased at www.semsummit.ca. Tickets range from $79 to $149 with student pricing, VIATEC discount and early-bird pricing available.

Burgeoning tech companies are on the rise in Canada, attracting funding and IPO buzz in hubs across the country. The Globe & Mail's occasional series explores how each locale nurtures its entrepreneurs, the challenges they face and the rising stars we’re watching.

Owen Matthews found the perfect way to convince his father, Ottawa tech pioneer Terry Matthews, to invest in a startup in his home base of Victoria: The company, Echosec Systems Ltd., can track social media postings by their geographic origin, so to demonstrate the power of the tool, the younger Mr. Matthews showed his father what had been posted to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram in the vicinity of his house. What showed up during the demonstration eight months ago shocked the billionaire: 15 pictures, including one of his grand-daughter, on his property. The first thing the elder Mr. Matthews did was track down the posters to get them to remove the pictures. The next thing he did was invest. “I like this tool, it clearly has a lot of value,” he told his son, who noted that the technology is already used by military and law enforcement agencies.

While Terry Matthews is known as one of Ottawa’s most prominent tech investors, he and his son have also poured money and time into Victoria, another government town with a surprisingly buoyant tech ecosystem. Victoria does not have any big tech companies, but it has enough small and medium-sized firms that the sector – not government or tourism – is the top employer in the metropolis of 344,000 people. The Victoria Advanced Technology Council says there are 900 technology companies employing 15,000 people in the area, generating $4-billion in economic impact. “Most people go to Vancouver and miss Victoria because it’s a cute government town,” Owen Matthews says. “But this place has a very entrepreneurial attitude.”

Mayor Lisa Helps argues that Victoria’s climate, abundance of restaurants, local beer and coffee, rental units and pleasant lifestyle options (“work here ends at kayak o’clock”) make it a magnet for startups. “What works in our ecosystem that makes us unique is small companies that grow rapidly and punch away above their weight on the world market,” she says.

It’s certainly helped by the Matthews family: Owen Matthews, 43, came to University of Victoria to study computer science and psychology and never left, starting a telecommunications software company in 1998 and selling it to Vancouver’s CounterPath Corp. in 2007 (the Matthews family owns close to 30 per cent of the stock).

He’s since helped develop the local startup scene by convincing several government and industry bodies, along with his alma mater and father, to fund the creation of the non-profit Alacrity Foundation, dedicated to helping nascent entrepreneurs get on their feet.

Owen Matthews argues that the first six to 12 months of an entrepreneurial enterprise is too early for serious investors to commit financing. So the foundation offers training, space, mentorship, access to industry players and expense money to help get B.C.-based business and engineering graduates on their feet as entrepreneurs. The idea is that if they flourish at Alacrity, there may be investors ready to jump in after a year.

Sure enough, several companies that have graduated from the program have landed seed investments, from the Matthews family and others. They include telecommunications software startup Tutela, online marketing firm Pretio and Echosec.

Karl Swannie, a former partner of local geospatial technology firm CloverPoint who heads Echosec, argues that “you have to be good in Victoria to survive. Your software has to be good enough to make it off the island. Because if you don’t do well, you die.”